3 Protein-Packed Pancake Recipes to Start Your Day Off Healthy

Oh, January, the month of restart and refocus. We love you, but are also a wee bit intimidated by you. It’s a new year, after all, which often feels like a clean slate. That said, we are super inspired by brand new beginnings, so we’ve been busily thinking of how to integrate health and wellness into our morning routines. From healthy smoothies to savory oatmeal, we find that starting our day with good intentions and the right fuel for our bodies gives us the energy to tackle anything that comes our way — perhaps even to keep that long list of resolutions going for the full year!

If we could have it our way, mornings would be slow, calming and energizing, but we all know that more often than not, they are rushed, unexpected and can set up our day for a tailspin. That’s why fast and easy protein pancakes are the answer to our worries!

Here are three QUICK protein pancakes that can be whipped up in a jiffy, packed with the nutrients to jump start your morning.

3 Ingredient Protein Pancake

Just THREE ingredients — how easy is that?! Not only is this pancake only a few ingredients, but it’s also packed with protein, and there are many great benefits to a protein-rich breakfast. Your body uses protein to build and repair tissues. It’s also an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin and blood. You’ll see that throughout the recipes we used different sources of protein in addition to whey protein powder (feel free to try different protein powders to see which one works the best for you — Whole Foods makes this easy by providing single-serve packets).

A little bit more about the ingredients:

— Whey protein is a mixture of proteins isolated from whey, which is the liquid part of milk that separates during cheese production. The protein comes from the casein and whey in the milk.

— Bananas are a great source of potassium, which is essential in muscle function and helps with abnormal cramping. They also have high levels of tryptophan, which your body converts into serotonin, the happy-mood brain transmitter.

3. Pour batter into the pan — this batter will yield roughly three four-inch pancakes and will be on the thin and runny side, kind of like crepes.

4. Flip the pancake when you see bubbles forming and the edges of pancake are set.

5. Once both sides have browned to your liking, serve on plate and adorn with toppings you love. The GREAT thing about pancakes is that they can be dressed up with various goodies — the options are endless! For this recipe, we topped our pancakes with greek yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and a little lemon juice to give the greek yogurt a citrus kick.

Mash the bananas with a fork first, then add the protein powder and eggs. Keep whipping them together until you get a smooth consistency that will pour into the pan.

There’s nothing wrong with eating breakfast for breakfast and then eating it again for dinner, in our humble opinion :)

Cottage Cheese Protein Pancake

Cottage cheese is a great source of lean protein (averaging around 24 grams per cup) as well as B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, potassium and zinc. Like whey, the protein comes from casein, which is a milk protein.

Ingredients:— 1/2 cup old fashioned oats

— 1 scoop protein powder

— 1/2 medium banana

— 1 teaspoon baking powder

— 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

— 2 large egg whites

— 1/4 cup cottage cheese

— 2-3 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk

Instructions:

1. We used a blender to show another way to mix the ingredients but a fork and bowl can work here as well. For the egg whites, separate the yolk by sliding the yolk from one half shell to the other, letting the egg white separate into the blender or bowl.

5. Once the pancake(s) have browned, serve with the toppings of your choice. This pancake will be on the savory side, so to sweeten it up, we recommend adding a little agave or maple syrup either in the blender or drizzled on top. For toppings, we used sliced apples, blackberries and cottage cheese.

If you aren’t confident in your egg-separating skills, do this part over a bowl and then pour it into the blender.

Blend the batter until it’s nice and smooth and pours easily into the pan.

Greek Yogurt Protein Pancake

Greek yogurt is not only a great source of protein (about 20 grams per cup), but it also has more calcium than cottage cheese. Additionally, it contains probiotics (live active cultures of gut-friendly bacteria) which aids with digestion.

Chia seeds are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, loaded with fiber, protein and antioxidants. These seeds can be used as an egg replacer for vegans — just mix one tablespoon of chia seeds with three tablespoons of water and let sit for 15 minutes. The formed gel substance is your egg substitute!

Ingredients:— 1/2 cup old fashioned oats

— 2-3 Tablespoons Greek yogurt

— 1 scoop protein powder

— 1/2 medium banana

— 1 teaspoon baking powder

— 1 Tablespoon chia seeds

— 2 large egg whites

— 2-3 Tablespoons unsweetened almond milk

Instructions:

1. Mix ingredients in bowl with fork until blended.

2. Spray frying pan with non-stick cooking oil.

3. Pour batter into pan. This should make one full pancake.

4. Flip once edges have formed some shape.

5. We topped this pancake with peanut butter, sliced bananas, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of honey. YUM!

The oats in this batter make it thicker than the others for a heartier pancake.

Ch-ch-ch-chia!

Below are some optional toppings so you can switch it up day by day:

— sliced bananas

— cinnamon

— nut butter (almond, cashew or peanut)

— sliced strawberries

— raspberries

— blackberries

— blueberries

— Greek yogurt

— honey or agave

— lemon juice

These pancakes provide nutrition, ease and variety into your mornings, leaving time to focus on other important decisions, like the ever-difficult question of what to wear!